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Finding their way to California, and finding themselves on the way
Boys on the Side: Three women take the trip of a lifetime

Jane DeLuca is a down and out musician looking to relocate to California she responds to a classified ad by Robin Nickerson who is a high stakes New York City realtor who just happens to be heading out west and is looking for a companion to accompany her on the road.

Jane DeLuca is a down and out musician looking to relocate to California she responds to a classified ad by Robin Nickerson who is a high stakes New York City realtor who just happens to be heading out west and is looking for a companion to accompany her on the road.

Robin happily invites Jane along for the trip, though the later is at first hesitant, unsure that she can bear a trip across the country with an annoyingly Caucasian companion with an affinity for Barbra Streisand and The Carpenters. When her car is towed away however she is left with no other choice, and reluctantly joins Robin. For Jane, California might just provide the perfect creative landscape to revitalize her stagnant career.

Their first stop is Pittsburgh, where Jane visits her old friend, Holly Pulchik. Holly, like the others, is experiencing a turbulent time in her life. Her abusive drug-dealer boyfriend, Nick, is in the process of pummeling Holly when the girls arrive. Both quickly intervene, which leads to Nick being duct taped to a chair. Things go awry, however, when Holly seeks revenge, hits her boyfriend with a baseball bat, and accidentally kills him. Rather than surrender to the authorities, Holly decides she will join the girls on their trip, and flees before she can be apprehended.

As the journey proceeds the girls inevitably get to know one another. Jane reveals that she is a lesbian and we learn that Robin�s flight to California is inspired by her contraction of HIV, and the desire to live her final days to the fullest. Holly continues to struggle with her future, wondering how she can progress beyond being a victim � in addition to when and if she will turn herself in to the police. Meanwhile Jane battles her attraction to Holly, who is most certainly not a homosexual.

In a scenario similar to many female road trip films, the ladies console one another, occasionally fight, and eventually use their cross-country excursion and bonding to navigate through their future lives. The voyage is not without its perils, however, and the unique situations the women encounter are what separate this film from many similar ones before it.

Boys on the Side has a lively soundtrack composed by solely female artists. Some of these names include Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, and the Indigo Girls. There are also popular tunes composed and popularized prior to the film�s conception, like The Cranberries� Dreams. The picture was not a blockbuster, and just barely recuperated its budget. It was generally well received by critics though, with a 72% fresh rating at the popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.